San Antonio Gunslingers

History

Going into the 1984 season, the USFL made the decision to expand to eighteen teams in order to boost league capital. However, efforts to expand to Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle fell through. San Antonio was mentioned as a possible market for expansion, as rapid growth through the 1970's propelled it into the tenth most populous city in the United States. A series of studies of possible new cities concluded that San Antonio could not support a USFL team. Even though over a million people lived in San Antonio proper, the area, then as now, was considered a medium-sized market because the surrounding suburban and rural areas were far smaller than the city itself. However, a heavy sales pitch by oilman Manges, along with the desire to give the Houston Gamblers a rival, persuaded league owners to award a franchise to the city.

While the USFL had endeavored to avoid the mistakes of the ill-fated World Football League by imposing strict capitalization and due diligence on prospective franchisees, the league neglected to perform any meaningful due diligence on Manges' application. The flamboyant oil baron was long thought to be one of the richest men in Texas. This lack of oversight also allowed the Gunslingers' owner to skirt league capitalization requirements. Despite his oil fortune, Manges never made an initial capital investment (as is standard for most major league sports franchises). Rather, he appeared to pay team expenses out-of-pocket as they arose. Until the league ordered them to move, team offices were located in a double-wide trailer in the Alamo Stadium parking lot.

Manges hired local coaching legend Gil Steinke to run the team as general manager and head coach. In 23 years at nearby Texas A&I, Steinke had a record of 195-63-5, including a 6-1 record in NAIA Championship games. In a league with free-spending owners, Steinke's Gunslingers rarely had the edge in talent but most games were very disciplined on the field, allowing them to remain somewhat competitive in spite of the team's shoestring budget.

1984 season

The Gunslingers showed moments of offensive competence most games, but lacked the game breakers that other teams had. The team was populated with football players, not athletes. If they were going to score, it would be a long, drawn-out drive. The Gunslingers were an average rushing team, in spite of having no true feature back. QB Rick Neuheisel played solidly for the team, nickel and dimeing the team up and down the field, and the intense "Bounty Hunter" defense led by players like Jeff McIntyre, John Barefield, Peter Raeford, Rich D'Amico, Jim Bob Morris and Putt Choate kept the Gunslingers within striking distance almost every week. Notably, the team was +13 in turnovers---a sign of a well coached team.

Coach/general manager Steinke managed to rally the modestly talented team to a 7-7 finish after an 0-4 start, keeping them in playoff contention until the last few weeks of the season. However, the Gunslingers' most enduring memory of that first season was when the lights at Alamo Stadium went out during their second game--and didn't come back on for an hour.

Offseason

Defensive coordinator Jim Bates was rewarded with a promotion to head coach in 1985. Steinke remained general manager. They also acquired Larry Canada, the Chicago Blitz' leading rusher.

1985 season

Despite their strong finish, by 1985 the Gunslingers were known to be badly undercapitalized, unlike most of their USFL brethren. This state of affairs quickly caught up with them in their second (and final) season. In the wake of the mid-1980's oil price crash, Manges' fortune collapsed. It would soon emerge that the Gunslingers' owner had been in financial trouble since at least 1980.

The result was a situation not unlike those faced by many teams in the ill-fated WFL. The season saw repeated bounced checks for the players and coaches, and QB Rick Neuheisel and LB Jeff McIntyre where the only two players with a personal services contract. When the San Antonio Express-News broke the story, Manges reacted by revoking the paper's press credentials. The situation got so dire at one point that several players traded tickets for food and stayed with sympathetic fans because they couldn't afford to pay the rent for their apartments. Years later, Neuheisel told ESPN that the players raced each other to the bank to cash their checks, knowing that half (if not more) of them would bounce.

On one occasion, an arbitrator threatened to release 30 players from their contracts if Manges didn't make good on their bounced checks. On another, several players threatened to sit out a June 9 game against the Los Angeles Express unless they were paid. After several missed paydays, Bates threatened to quit unless the players were paid by the team's contest against the Oakland Invaders. The money never arrived, and Bates walked out, forcing Steinke to take over for the last six games of the season.

In June, Manges simply stopped paying the franchise's bills. The players and coaches played the last stretch of the season (depending on the source, as few as three games and as many as six) without being paid. Not surprisingly, the Gunslingers barely survived the season, finishing with the second-worst record in the league.

Aftermath

A month after the season, Commissioner Harry Usher had seen enough. He ordered Manges to make restitution for the team's debts in 15 days, or lose the franchise. When this didn't occur, the Gunslingers became the only USFL franchise to be revoked.

The Gunslingers' holding company, South Texas Sports, was auctioned off to pay more than $650,000 of debts to former players. The players also sued Manges to recover back pay, but that suit collapsed when Manges filed for bankruptcy. At least some of the players still hadn't been paid at the time of a 1998 reunion, and no players or staff members that were owed back wages had been paid at the time of Manges' death in 2010.

Average home attendance

1984

1985

Single season leaders